Her sacrifice
by Skitzykat101
Summary: During the war of the best, Akainu went for Luffy. Ace however, went to intercept it. But Ace was not the only one willing to risk their life. OC story, no romance.
1. Chapter 1

It was a peaceful day on the Moby Dick, or as peaceful as things could get with Ace on board. The little brat was constantly going after whitebeard's head using any kind of weapon in sight.

(He was once seen with a fishing rod and another time with one of pop's IV's.) And Marco was getting extremely angry at all the casualties the ship was taking. There were burn marks everywhere and a lot of railings were missing along whitebeard's room. Needless to say, the first division commander was _this_ close throwing their little passenger overboard.

Not that it helped that a lot of the attacks happened _extremely_ early in the morning or _extremely _late at night.

Oyaji had insisted that Ace was not harmed, even though it was sort of ironic, as he was the one punching him overboard.

Marco headed off to the kitchen to visit Thatch; the poor guy probably had his work cut out for him as it was almost dinner time. He walked inside to see Thatch peeling potatoes like a madman.

"Come to help prepare food for that army outside you call a crew?" Thatch teased as Marco took a stand beside him.

"Well it looks like you'll need all the help you can get."

Thatch smirked, "Have you seen Ace recently? The little trouble maker has been stealing pop's IV stands. Found out once a crew member tripped over one and the thing broke clean in half."

"How is that Ace's fault?"

"The reason it broke was because it was made of some weak, painted wood. Jozu found a real one on the deck. It was turned into a fishing pole. It was even warped into a curve, no doubt the effect of his fire devil fruit."

"Devil fruit?"

"You didn't know? Haven't you seen him try to burn pops like, a million times? Anyway, I'm going to feed the little brat after dinner. Wanna join me? We can get spit in the face _together._"

Marco frowned at the first statement. It _did_ explain all the burned rails and the reason Namur had to jump in to rescue Ace. He was disturbed that he had never put two and two together.

"What's wrong? You seem...off."

Marco shook his head, " I'm just tired..."

"No wonder you can't remember! Don't you know your own limits? Everyone knows you start to catch amnesia after stress and loss of sleep! Go to bed! We can't have you forgetting any important stuff. But seriously, go take a nap."

With a sigh, Marco put down his potato and walked away, but the fact that he gave up without so much as a grumbled _scared _Thatch. Whatever he was worrying about must be massive.

He shrugged. After dinner he would visit Marco.

* * *

Ace sat curled up by the mast, away from prying eyes. He was a wreck. He had tried everything he could think of and he hadn't placed even a _scratch_ on his enemy. Nothing helped calm his fear; not even thinking of Luffy would cheer him up. (The bright kid always managed to brighten his day, no matter what). The growing sense of unease did little to make him feel better; it only strengthened his thought that something terrible was going to happen.

And soon, very, very soon.

The sound of boots on wood alerted Ace that someone was with him, and judging by the persons... Spontaneous presence, he guessed it to be Thatch.

"Yo! Ace, here's your dinner, fresh Sea king with mashed potatoes. Like it or no dinner."

Thatch pushed the plate in front of Ace. Sure, he was being a little rough (at least in his own standards, but Marco always called him soft.) but he was getting tired of him, just join for heaven's sake!

Ace pulled his gaze up and glowered at thatch.

"Get lost."

Thatch frowned at the fire users little choice of words, not very different from his last visit.

"Come on now. Don't be so tight! You're safe now. Nobody's going to kick you out for who you are. Just join already!"

Ace stiffened. Thatch thought Ace wouldn't be kicked out for who he was. Oh the irony! He was the son of Gol D. Freaking Roger! Nobody would like him. The only people who would and still accept him were his family. His beloved brothers.

Thatch noticed the fire user flinch, as if stung by something he had said.

"Get the heck away." The tone was quiet, but no doubt scary.

"Not till you eat your food. I prepared that for you!" If there were two things that Thatch couldn't stand, they were

Food being wasted,

And people starving.

And here was Ace, not giving a crap about either.

"_I SAID GET THE HECK AWAY!"_ Ace launched himself at a very startled cook.

Thatch twisted out of the way just in time, but he tripped over the plate of food _he himself_ had put there. Thankfully, a ball of fire whizzed harmlessly right over his head, and Thatch was still in one piece. He may have been covered in meat and mashed potatoes but at least he wasn't scorched, and Thatch new all too well Ace was capable of that.

Thatch decided that was enough aerobics for today and he scrabbled away towards Marco's room. He stood up and rapped on the door.

_What do you want?_ Came Marco's irritated reply. He was probably doing work, Thatch didn't know, he was a cook; a worker in the kitchen.

"A chat."

There was a pause, then an audible _no._

"Aw come on! Can't we have a friendly chat? I'm sure it'll do you good, you know, you spend too much time with your beak in your paperwork."

There was another pause before the door was thrown open, revealing a very annoyed Marco. His lazy-but-irritated eyes cast a strange, questioning look at the meat and mashed potatoes that covered his body.

Now the forth division commander was very good friends with the first division commander, and could tell when something was bothering his dearest friend. So Thatch did notice the black circles under his friend's eyes, and it worried him. It meant Marco was _really_ stressed, and usually about his sense of danger. If he was that stressed, something _really, really_ bad was going to happen, and soon.

So thatch knew talking Marco into spilling the beans was not going to work, so he waltzed strait in and sat on Marcos bed, leaving meat and mashed potatoes all over the bed.

Marco turned to face him and growled, "Get out. _Now._"

"Marco, just tell me what's wrong!"

"Nothing is!"

"Liar!"

"_Get out!"_

And with that, Thatch was kicked out, literally. Something was _terribly _wrong.

* * *

**Aaaaaaand there's my first story. It turned out okay, and I promise to make it longer in chapters to come.**

**Remember, there will be no romance, only friendship. It will mostly be from Ace's and my OC's view, but there will be some with Marco.**

**Also, D3athrav3n92 is my sister. Go and check out her stories too. Also check out all the stories I've Favorited, those are good too (Just saying)**

**I hope you like it.**

**-Skitzy101-**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! I've decided to answer questions at the beginning! Don't worry, they wont be too long!**

**aqua-empress:**

**Sorry, although I do like my OC to be involved in some love, I just suck at writing romance, and besides the story is more about the War of the Best. Thanks for the review!**

* * *

-A year or so later-

"I DIDN'T FREAKING DO IT!"

"SHUT UP! I KNOW IT WAS YOU!"

"IT WAS THATCH!"

Things were going crazy on the Moby dick, and Marco was about to tear anyone or anything apart if they came within 3 feet. Ace and Thatch were across the ship, hiding behind a scared Vista, with very guilty looks on their faces.

The two had somehow managed to secure all of Marcos furniture to the ceiling ( I know a classic right?) and Marco was _angry._

It's been awhile since Thatch had left meat and mashed potatoes on his bed, and the feeling of disturbance had slightly gone away. But the biggest difference was Ace. The boy had finally joined and just recently became 2nd division commander. His mood had improved greatly, and now he spent most of his free time teaming up with the cook and playing pranks on various crew members.

But yesterday, they found out that their little trouble maker had a even _worse _trouble maker little brother. It happened once the news coo came and dropped some papers on Aces face, and then things got a_ little bit _crazy.

Anyway, back on topic, Ace and Thatch were now running around the deck, being chased by a very agitated Marco.

"Oiiiiiiii. Guys, there's an island starboard." Called Izou, who was on watch.

Unfortunately, this set off the duo to running around the deck (still chased by Marco) yelling at the top of their lungs, "ISLAND! Yaaaaay!"over and over again.

"What is it my son?" Boomed Whitebeard, startling Ace into tripping over, he still wasn't used to that. With his great eyesight , he could see the island, or rather he thought it was an island; it looked a lot like a horde of smoke.

"What do you see?" Whitebeard asked again, as he could feel the growing sense of unease. Ace could feel it too, he stopped and stared at the island. Something was really wrong there, but it only fueled his curiosity.

"Only smoke-Oh! There's a lot of ice there too! There seems to be a battle going on!" Ace could tell the battle must be fascinating, he could hear the awe in Izou's voice. He walked towards bow and stood on the figurehead.

"Ace? Are you all right?" Thatch asked, seeing his 'partner in crime' sudden change in mood. He was starting to get used to his brothers strange mood swings. Like last month, the topic of fathers was brought up, and Ace was this close to burning Thatch to ashes.

"Something's wrong." Ace murmured, not even taking in the fact Thatch was next to him, and Marco was on the other side. Thatch have Ace a weird look, but said nothing.

That feeling Ace had, the very bad feeling was happening now.

* * *

"Come on now, come with me and be a good girl, your fathers waiting for you."

"Shut up!"

She was losing, and badly. She definitely wasn't expecting Aokiji to come after her so quickly, thank goodness she had found this island, she did _not_ want to fight him in the middle of the ocean. That would spell immediate death , since she couldn't swim.

The fight had been going on for days, and she was exhausted. Even with her monstrous endurance, Aokiji had more, and more strength too.

"Ararara who could that be? I didn't ask for reinforcements... and she has no allies." Aokiji asked looking at the far coast.

The girl gave an inhuman growl and charged him, paying no attention to the ship, after all, no one was coming to help her.

She flew across the ground, covering ground faster than she had at the beginning, and began fighting Aokiji with renewed vigor. Whoever was on that ship was an enemy, and she had to finish the fight quickly, or else the ship would dock, and she would be stuck fighting off the Admiral and a unknown crew.

One hit, that was all it took for her to go down. She got reckless and that led to her defeat. She was going back, to be a slave.

* * *

The silence was eerie, they had just docked and there was a silence, which signaled the battle was over. For some reason Ace was filled with anxiety, like an admiral was about to jump out and attack him.

"For gosh sake Ace! What the heck is wrong with you? You've been jumping at everything!"

It was true , every time Thatch, Marco, or even Jozu stepped on a twig, Ace would leap about 7 feet in the air and light himself on fire, which is why he walked separate from the rest of the group.

"I don't know! This island makes me edgy! I feel like an admiral's going to jump out at us!"

"Come on Ace! I had no idea that you were such a scaredy cat!"

"Shut up! I-" Ace was cut off as tons of ice spears shot out of the trees and stopped mere inches from Ace's face.

"HOLY -" Ace lit himself on fire and leaped away from the ice and into Thatch, setting his friend's hair aflame.

"AAUGGGHHHH!" Thatch was waving his hands frantically, trying to put out the fire perched on his head.

Thankfully, Jozu put out the fire and was glaring at the fire user as he stood there dazed.

"What the heck is wrong with you Ace?"

"What do you think?! Tons of ice just shot out of the trees! Did you expect me to just stay there, unaffected?" Ace was near screaming, and Marco realized things were too quiet. Marco trusted Ace's instincts with his life, he had too, the fate of an entire crew might rest on his hands. If Ace was this paranoid about one specific thing; the chances they were going to happen were almost certain.

And suddenly, there was another presence.

"ACE! GET DOWN!" Marco tackled Jozu to the ground.

Ace wasn't used to the communication or the trusting teamwork that sprouted among the crew. Sure he bonded with them, but all the trusting-with-life sorta thing only happened between him and his brothers.

So when Aokiji was thrown out of the bushes at alarming speed, Ace was not prepared for his suspicion to be confirmed.

"_HOLY F-" _ Ace whizzed right over their heads and and the two crashed into the undergrowth on the opposing side.

"Ace!" Thatch and Marco were up on their feet in an instant, and were in front of the wreckage in no more than a second.

* * *

Her hands hurt. Like, really, really hurt.

She had barely managed to launch the ice admiral away from her but it was too late. She heard it, she heard it all.

The unknown crew was the world known Whitebeard crew. She didn't know how the navy had gotten them to work for the navy, but... didn't Aokiji say he didn't ask for reinforcements? Ugh, she couldn't think, she was too exhausted and hurt to do anything but lean against the branches of the tree she was hiding in. She just wanted it to end. All the pain, all the exhaustion.

A rumble from her stomach caused her to gasp and curl in pain. When was the last time she had eaten? A month? Two months? She didn't know. Everything blurred together. She needed to hunt. Now. No matter how dangerous, she would be stronger and smarter with food in her stomach.

With her mind set on the simple task off hunting, she set out.

* * *

Once again, his instincts were right.

Why did they always have to come true? Curse his bad luck.

Now he, Marco, Thatch and diamond head over there; were stuck fighting Aokiji. Hey, at least it wasn't Akainu, the guy was nuts with 'justice'.

"Ace!"

He could hear Marco and Thatch calling his name, but all he could do was get angrier. The stupid Admiral, launching him to the trees, now they were forced to fight.

"Arara. Pardon me, I wasn't expecting that. Truthfully, I'm not interested in fighting you guys now. I've got my hands full already." Aokiji got up, dusting himself off,"Now,if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to." And with that the admiral walked strait in between a Marco and Thatch, and into the woods.

" What the heck was that?" Thatch was the first one to react." I don't think this has ever happened before. Like seriously! What the heck?"

" I don't know, but if Aokiji just went off and ignored us, then he must be dealing with something important." Marco grimaced, whoever the admiral was fighting, they must be pretty important to take top priority.

Ace had gotten up by now and was glaring at the spot where Aokiji had run off, and needless to say, he was _pissed._ The guy had just slammed into him, then got up and walked away like they had never existed! On top of that, that feeling of unease was _still _there. Ace thought that now that it had actually happened, the feeling would go away. But no, _no no no. _Of course not. All he wanted was for the feeling to go away. It was starting to give him a headache, and a terrible one at that.

But suddenly, there was an rumble, and a yell; one that portrayed multiple emotions, surprise, fear, anguish, and pain. Lots of it.

And instantly, all of Ace's emotions were extinguished, all except fear.

No,_ no no no no no no no._

Ace knew that voice, it may have been years since he had heard that yell, years that dated back to when he lived with Sabo and Luffy, but that was a sound he could never forget, one that he thought he would never hear again. And it was bad news when he had heard that yell, it had signaled that she was gone. Gone forever, and he would never see her again. But the yell was so unmistakable, so real, so _her._ And his heart wrenched, and his mouth agape, and he ran towards the sound, the only thing in his head was that voice, replaying over and over again.

He didn't hear Marco and the others yelling his name, all he heard was her.

And when he finally saw her, he sprinted towards her crippled figure in the grass,throwing all senses of caution away, and he shouted her name. He could feel all the emotion bubbling inside, anger, worry, fear, and happiness.

She was there, she was with him, and she had a chance.

* * *

**Done, finally done. Sorry it took so long, I kept readjusting things. I wish I was super fast at typing, I could get things done so much faster...**

**Thanks for all the reviews and favorites guys! I'm so happy!**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Reviews are appreciated! **


	3. Chapter 3-she's aliveeee

**Just a few notes, **

**I noticed while reading back that the girl had been knocked out, but then it says she threw Aokiji through the trees. Well basically, Aokiji started taking her with him, but then she woke up and caught him by surprise.**

**Another thing, im not going to put disclaimers because everyone does it, and you know this is fanfic, so why bother...**

**Anyways, on with the story!**

* * *

"-all right?"

"-know, don't forget she's malnourished and is suffering from many injuries."

"..."

"-won't be able to get out of bed."

Those were the only thing she could pick up. Her head hurt like there were a million elephants trampling inside, and the rest of her body felt strangely warm. Like she was back 'home' with her brothers.

...people...warmth...

That was the trigger. With a sudden sense of panic she bolted upwards. She was in an unknown place with unknown people and in an unknown condition. She was a criminal, waking up somewhere you didn't know spelt doom for you, and she couldn't go back now, not ever.

She tried to run away from these unknown people, to flee, but she was too injured too weak, too vulnerable. All she managed was to scramble off the bed to the wall, which only caused her to panic more, she was trapped. Her feet and brain were being incorporative, and they felt numb and heavy, which also hurt like crap whenever they moved. Her eyesight was fuzzy and the shapes were hard to identify, they danced and taunted her brain showing her evil shapes and colors.

"-right?!" The voices were all distorted and she could barely understand what they were saying, which only caused more panic. She was trapped in a room and drugged. She had to get out! She was in a cage and she needed out!

"-her down!" Suddenly there were arms. They restricted her and it scared her (not that she'd ever admit) she couldn't move. She was hoisted back on the bed and some needle was stabbed into her arm. The pain was not a lot, but the idea of her not knowing the contents or what it would do to her forced a startled yell from her throat.

Then everything went fuzzy and then all was black.

* * *

Marco gave a sigh as he saw his friend pace around the deck. It had been a week, and their new passenger still hadn't woken up; which surprised him, the nurses said she wasn't in a coma or anything, but she was still sleeping.

Ace had been worried sick. Marco had constantly tried to ask what was wrong or how the girl was related to him. He refused to answer either, and Marco was now noticing the dark circles under the fire users eyes. The guy hadn't gotten any sleep since they found her and he seriously wondered what was wrong.

"Ace, would you calm down! Sit down or get some sleep yoi!" Marco scolded, he was also tired, but this was one of those rare times when Ace was actually more stressed than Marco. And it was pissing him off. Marco was not affected as much because he was used to dealing with it and keeping his cool. It did shorten his fuse though, so he was best avoided when he was tired. After all, nobody wanted to make Marco mad.

But Ace wasn't used to the lack of sleep or the stress and anger that came with it.

"You want me to calm down?! Thorn is in there and she could be dying! Do you really want me to calm down?!" Ace countered on Marco, his expression full of despair, concern, and rage.

One thing Marco knew very well about Ace was that rage was the most common emotion that was ever shown. The first division commander didn't know why, but Ace had no problems expressing his rage and anger.

Also, who was Thorn? It seemed logical that she was the girl in the infirmary. What connection did Ace have with Thorn? He seemed to know her very well, he remembered very well how the fire user had reacted to this 'Thorn'.

* * *

_Marco raced up to Ace. He was shocked to see Ace hunched over someone, crying. Marco was speechless, it was rare to see the fire user like this. Ace was never one to display emotions, if he felt any that is._

_Thatch and Jozu were no better._

_"Ace? What's wrong?" Marco finally managed to spit out. Who was this person? It seemed like they needed medical treatment right away._

_Ace said nothing but slowly tried to pick her up. Thatch saw the opportunity to be helpful and rushed over and picked the unconscious person up and slung him over his shoulder, like a sack of potatoes. Thatch started off towards the Moby Dick while Marco and Jozu comforted their crying commander. _

_Once they were there, Ace swallowed up his pride, he wouldn't allow so many people to see him like this. Sure Marco and the others saw it but they were his closest friends, he didn't want to be seen weak or thought of as a burden. _

_Thatch jumped up first closely followed by Ace, then Marco and Jozu. The cook walked into the infirmary and set the person on one of the beds that was unoccupied. Before long Selma waltzed over, a wad if bandages in her hand._

_She paid no heed to them as she examined her subject. _

_Finally she spoke," What happened to her?"_

_Her? Thatch was bewildered, her body build was square enough to be a man, and her hair cut was short and spiky, a popular do for men nowadays. He sneaked a peek at Marco, who seemed I unfazed by the info which frankly; didn't surprise him, Marco was never fazed by anything. _

_"Well? Are you going to tell me what happened or what? You can't keep secrets from me."_

_Selma asked, her hand subconsciously reaching for a rather large needle. She glanced at Ace, but once she realized an answer was not going to be given she looked at Marco. _

_"So?"_

* * *

_"_**IM FREAKING SICK OF THIS!"** Ace yelled as he stomped around the deck.

It's been a while since Thorn had been taken to the infirmary, and Ace was getting more and more pissed with each passing second. She could be dead and those freaking nurses wouldn't tell him anything! He felt like punching something, or rather someone. Once she was awake he was going to punch her for making him worry; if she didn't die first.

"ACE! What the heck are you doing?" Thatch called as he tried to hold his fellow commander from kicking poor Haruta into the sea. Ace didn't even notice until he was smacked in the head with a frying pan, causing the fire commander to writher in pain.

But this caused a devilish thought to spring in his head; what if he got himself in the infirmary so he could see Thorn? It wasn't a well thought out plan; actually, it wasn't a plan at all, but this is what happens when you're trying to think of a plan when struck by a frying pan.

Not to mention he was getting _really_ desperate.

So, in order to get in the infirmary, Ace attempted to be unconscious. It wasn't easy; for sure, but somehow he managed to pull it off.

* * *

"Jeeze, what the heck got into him? I didn't do anything to him, I just asked if he wanted to prank Marco with me!" Haruta scoffed.

"I don't know, he's been like this ever since we brought that girl on board." Thatch sighed, he really wanted to help but what could he do? Marco told him to just wait, and when Ace has a chance to talk to that girl, then things would sort themselves out.

"Oi, is he alright?"

_Crap._

* * *

_Yessssssssss! It's working! Thorn, wait for me! _Ace silently cheered as he was carried to the infirmary; at least he hoped it was the infirmary, he hoped Thatch wasn't heading towards the ocean.

He didn't dare open his eyes incase Marco was watching, he'd be discovered instantly. (He had eyes like a hawk! Hahahaha) So instead he gave a short breath for drama and deepened his breathing. (A trick he learned when escaping important meetings)

His name being mentioned in the conversation between Thatch and Hatuta brought his attention to their conversation.

"Maybe we should just ask him when he wakes up."

"Hm. Marco told us not to remember?"

"Pshhh. Who cares? Let's ask anyway!"

"Haruta."

"Oh come on Thatch! We never listened to him before, why now?"

"Because this time it's serious, we shouldn't just brush this kinda stuff off. This could be serious, we won't ask unless he tells first."

"Hmph. You're no fun."

"Deal with it."

"By the way, where is Marco?"

"I think he's in the infirmary with Selma."

_Aaaaaaaaaaaaand great._

Thatch suddenly came to a stop, presumably outside the sick bays door, Haruta coming to a stop besides him.

"What's wrong?" she asked. He could just picture her scrunched up face as she struggled to see out the little window of the infirmary door.

"I can't see any-" she suddenly cut off as Thatch signaled her silent.

They could hear some crashes and thumps coming from the inside, with an occasional shout. Then there was a very, _very_ loud surprised yell, and then everything was silent.

* * *

**Yaaaay done! That took sooo long because i have such a short attention span. One minute im writing then the next im playing super smash.(Just ask D3athrav3n92, we've been playing it sooooo much, i never gaver her any time to write :P) But i did it! yeah! If you guys have any ideas or questions, be sure to ask in the reviewing section, or PM me. Ill try to answer as soon as possible.**

**Thanks for all the reviews guys! Oh and also, go check out D3ath, she has some really funny story ideas coming up so stay tuned!**

**Byeeeeeee~~~**


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